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‘Seeing all these people walking among the crosses, reading the names and listening to the stories of victims was an extraordinarily moving experience.’
Lex Libertas’s White Cross Project vigil in Washington, D.C. was a major success, with thousands of people attending the display of 3,000 white crosses commemorating victims of farm murders in South Africa over the past two days.
The vigil formed the culmination of the White Cross Project’s programme in Washington and was attended by members of the public, supporters of the project, victims and their families, media institutions, researchers and think tank representatives, as well as representatives from the White House, the United States Department of State, and other government departments.
‘Seeing all these people walking among the crosses, reading the names and listening to the stories of victims was an extraordinarily moving experience,’ said Dr Ernst Roets, Executive Director of Lex Libertas.
The Washington program also included the White Cross Project Conference at the National Press Club, the release of the White Cross Project Campaign Report, meetings with the United States Government, and the publication of the documentary film Crossed Out: Confronting Persecution in South Africa.
‘We have made it clear from the beginning that our first objective is to make the harsh realities within South Africa impossible to ignore. Over the last two days, thousands of people encountered those realities in a very tangible way,’ said Roets.
‘The second, and most important objective, is to use the awareness and momentum that is created by this project, to garner support for short and long term solutions for the peoples of South Africa. To this effect the campaign report includes a list of twenty steps that could be taken immediately by the South African government to address the crises of incitement of violence, farm attacks, racial exclusion and the threat to property rights.’
‘Furthermore, the report explains that these crises stem from a deeper-rooted problem: the political system in South Africa has become so centralized that it has grown detached from basic realities, compounded by a complete loss of accountability. That is why Lex Libertas argues that the long-term solution lies in promoting decentralization and self-governance. During the conference and vigil, institutions, supporters, and the U.S. government were encouraged to support these objectives,’ said Roets.
The 3,000 crosses have now been removed from the site, loaded onto trucks and will be shipped to South Africa. Lex Libertas intends to apply for permission to repeat the vigil in Pretoria, with the crosses to be displayed in front of the Union Buildings.
On Monday, Lex Libertas will meet with representatives from the White House to discuss these issues in more detail.
Roets encouraged the public to sign up as contributors to Lex Libertas in order to strengthen the institution’s capacity to follow up on these actions.
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'The meeting went very well and, importantly, the discussion focused not merely on what went wrong in South Africa, but on what can actually be done about it.’
Crossed Out brings together the evidence, the broader political context and, most importantly, the experiences of people who have personally lived through these realities.
‘We are not going to Washington merely to complain about South Africa,’ Roets said. ‘Our purpose is to present evidence, honour victims and argue for practical solutions.'